Venezuelan families seek a better life abroad

Every day people are leaving, taking long and dangerous journeys in a region prevalent with criminal networks.

Sun Dec 09 2018 18:53:20 GMT+0000

The New Jerusalem settlement in Arauca, Colombia, which is just across the border from Venezuela. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Almost three million people have fled Venezuela over the past three years to escape poverty, food insecurity and violence, according to the latest United Nationsstatistics.

The Latin American country's economy has collapsed and inflation is predicted by the International Monetary Fund to reach one million percent before the end of this year.

"Every day is a struggle not just for us but for the children. I hope that my children will be allowed to study and create a future for themselves off the street. At the moment, they don't even have clothes to wear," said Olivia, who is homeless with four children.

Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelan migrants - more than one million have arrived since 2015 - in a crisis likened in scale to that of the war in Syria by the UN human rights body.

"On the third day, the stress of having left our home in Venezuela caused me to have a heart attack," said Stefanie, 55, who is travelling with her 10-year-old grandson.

Estimates suggest more than 350,000 children have made the dangerous crossing to Colombia, facing grave risks, such as trafficking and recruitment by armed groups and organised criminal gangs.

Save the Children Country Director Maria Martinez said: "Mothers do not have food to feed their children ... or a place to call home. Mothers are giving birth on the streets."

"The scale and complexity of this crisis is unprecedented and we currently have a huge funding gap," Martinez said.

Gael and Olivia bring their things and their children back to the home that offers them shelter. Every night, they try and find a different place to sleep. Without a home, the kids are badly fed and ill, and the family struggles. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Isobel, 28, had just crossed the border after leaving Venezuela. She left with her husband, David, and one year old baby Samuel, but had to leave her 11-year-old daughter behind as she was still able to go to school. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

The border point at Maicao is bustling every morning with children crossing to attend school and others moving back and forth to buy and sell goods. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Carolina, 23, holds her baby Pedro at the hospital in Colombia close to the Venezuelan border. A Venezuelan migrant, she left because there is no medicine in the country. Her baby weighs just 4.4kg and has not put on weight for two weeks. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

A cross marks the river that divides Colombia and Venezuela in the town of Arauca. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

The emergency room in Maicao, Colombia, where many Venezuelan migrants seek the only form of healthcare available to them. Most here are mothers with small children. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Isaias and Carlos pose for a picture with a bouquet of plastic flowers that they sell on the street with their mother. They make them out of old water bottles and paint. After fleeing Venezuela, they've been in Colombia for two months without enough to eat. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

At the bus station in Maicao, migrants from Venezuela line up to buy tickets to other cities in Colombia and across Latin America. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Elena was pregnant with her fourth child when her family left Venezuela for Colombia so she could access medical care when she gave birth. She ended up giving birth while standing up and the baby's arm was broken. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Stefanie and her grandson Diego came to Venezuela six months ago. They now live in a small room rented from strangers. She has been looking after him as his mother left and his father is stuck in Venezuela. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Sara's husband came over first and she joined him two months later. She was a teacher in Venezuela. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Many schoolchildren make the journey back and forth daily across the river to school from Venezuela. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Many families are homeless and sleep outdoors with little shelter. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

Sofia fixes her hair while her family sits around on a Saturday morning in their settlement, just across the border from Venezuela. The family moved into her sister's hut in a settlement along with her parents, which means there are eight sleeping in one room, including the seven-month-old baby. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]

The river that marks the border between Colombia and Venezuela at Cucuta has a legal crossing point and many illegal crossing points. Some are controlled by gangs and oil and drug traffickers as the economic conflict escalates other guerrilla activities. [Glenna Gordon/Save the Children]